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walking

I decided since I was going to be in the back of a car for awhile to write my next blog post. At the time I was writing this we were on the I80 North heading home.

Thursday was our full day in Washington, DC to be tourists and do all the things that tourists do. We started off the morning a bit slow but once moving we headed to the Smithsonian. We had a wonderful time wandering around the exhibits. We saw the First Ladies dresses, not all of them since some are not on display due to being too fragile. Some dresses have been on display since 1914. Michelle Obama’s dress had also not arrived yet. We then wandered through several exhibits on various presidents like Lincoln and Obama. It was fascinating that this museum had the hat that Lincoln was wearing on the day he was killed. Thankfully he wasn’t wearing the hat, it was on the seat beside him. We then saw Dr. Kermit the Frog (awarded an honorary doctorate of Amphibious Letters on May 19, 1996), Oscar the Grouch and the ruby slippers.

From the Smithsonian we proceeded to the Holocaust Museum. We almost did not get in since passes were sold out. A very nice gentleman at the desk decided since we were Canadians he could sneak us three passes. It was a very interesting exhibit and we were glad to be allowed to see the moving tributes to the victims and those who helped liberate the survivors. We then made a stop for lunch then headed out to find the White House. This was a tad more difficult then it looked, there is no metro (subway) stop close to it and the blue directional signs are incorrect on directions. We stopped to ask a security guard who I think has answered the question on which way far too many times. Washington has some very interesting architecture and it is a beautiful walk on the way to the White House. The White House was a lot bigger than expected and was gorgeous. I got some great shots since we had a lot of clouds moving in which leads us to the next adventure.

After a small break we decided we would attempt to walk to the Lincoln Memorial. Only problem the maps didn’t really make it clear that it is about a 45 minute walk from the White House. There was probably some way of getting there by bus but there were no signs. For a tourist town it is not an easy place to get around. About half way to the memorial, the sky decided open up. We took cover under some trees but that quickly didn’t work. It started to pour and we were quickly soaked from head to toe! We then took shelter in the World War I memorial, not great cover but at least better than just a tree.

After it stopped we decided we would get to the memorial since we were already wet and we might as well make it worth-while. After a long trudge in damp clothes and wet shoes ( I was wearing running shoes with no socks, not good) we finally made it to the memorial which was beautiful. I got some great photographs since the sun was starting to go down and the clouds were in the background.

The worst part of the day was when we realized we were a very long distance from the Metro subway stop and the only way back was walking. We also didn’t have a great map so we had to guess which way was the right way. After a 45 minute walk and getting wet for the second time we were on the way back to the hotel. We all now had sore feet, sore legs and were exhausted. It was a fun day but wow what a lot of walking.